Operation: Arctic Fortress (formerly Morphine Lullabies)
by Disasterology96
Summary: Operation: Arctic Fortress is an ongoing Team Fortress 2 fanfiction. It focuses on the RED team and their battle against BLU's schemes to bring the world to an abrupt end, all the while as they struggle to survive the elements as the world's resources continuously dwindle.
1. Chapter One: Awakening

"Gee Medic, if I had known you were gonna revive her I wouldna bashed her head in so hard."

"Nonono. Zis is just fine. It was better for her to be unconscious anyhow… much less of a struggle."

"You uh. You sure, doc?"

"I am poszitive, herr Scout."

"Alrightie then I guess. I'm gonna go get something to eat, you want anything?"

"No."

There was a slamming of the door, and it seemed to snap Wynter out of whatever remained of her coma. Her vision and memory were both blurry for a moment, but the latter returned within a few minutes and evoked an instant reaction.

She jolted upright, only to be restrained against the cold metal of an operating table. This, along with the sight of a huge, gun-like contraption chained above and pointed towards her was nothing short of frightening, definitely not a sight one would like to see upon awakening.

She screamed in terror, and started to thrash about in a feeble attempt to get free, panic clouding her mind. After all, of all the things her father taught her nothing her couldn't have prepared her for this… a man clad in doctor's garb complete with a white, bloodstained lab coat rushed to her side and strapped her down even tighter. She could feel the veins in her limbs constricting under the abrasive restraints, guaranteeing there would be more than several bruises later.

If she even made it out alive.

"Now, now. Don't make a mess, and don't frighten my birds." he said in an uncomfortably calm and menacing tone, motioning to several pigeons roosting above, his thick German accent only adding to his statement.

"What are you doing with me? What do you want?" Wynter asked frantically.

"Vell, I'm not sure. Zhat depends on who exactly you are." He said, taking his bright red gloves off and setting them down on the table next to her. "You know, it's been a while since I've had a new patient."

"Gee, I wonder why." Winter hissed.

"Oh, does my Medi Gun frighten you?" He asked unsympathetically.

"Medi Gun? Is that what you call that thing?" Wynter said, looking at the mechanism in front of her. Surely something that looked that threatening couldn't possibly be used for any sort of good.

"Ja." He said, walking towards it and adjusting it above her. "It's a beauty, iz it not? She's my greatest achievement yet. I can heal people instantly and even make them invinzible, very convenient for battle you know. But don't worry, it's just medicine. It won't kill you. Vell it could, there's just more convenient ways I could go about doing zhat other than waiting for you to overdose."

"You're a doctor." She said calmly.

He cringed. "Vell…. yes and no. Don't get excited, human beings are a dime a dozen. I don't consider you an exception."

Wynter scoffed. "Yeah, so dime-a-dozen that there's only a hundred of them left on earth."

"Shhh." he said, putting a finger to her mouth and leaning closer to whisper in her ear. "Eighty five. Ze blue team are clones."

Wynter rolled her eyes. "Like science has gotten advanced enough for that while we've all been busy killing eachother off."

"Goes to show just how little you know, my naïve girl." the doctor replied, as a pigeon landed on his shoulder.

The two stared at eachother blankly for a few minutes.

"I'm waiting to hear more about this whole thing I clearly know nothing about." Wynter retorted.

Medic chuckled. "Ah. Vell, since you're going to be here for a while, I suppose I have ze time to tell you. You should feel special, you're the first patient I've talked to that was still living!" He started to break out in uproarous laughter. "Oh, I kill myzelf." he said, wiping a tear from his eye and bracing himself on the edge of the table. "What iz your name?"

"Wynter."

"Ah. Like the season as cold as my heart. Heh heh. Vell. I do not go by any name but Medic. Zo, you can call me Medic. Not Doktor. Never Doktor. I haven't been a doktor for years."

"Well that's shocking." Wynter said sarcastically.

Medic leaned in to whisper in her ear again. "You know, if I were in your position I wouldn't put in such an effort to make me angry." He chuckled and pulled on her restraints, "I juzt might show you how I lost my medical license."

"I can only imagine. A 'doctor' like you." Wynter said, her words basically dripping with acidity. She wasn't afraid of him. She knew was that although he had all the bonesaws hanging on the wall, the scapels on the table next to her, and the massive "Medi Gun" hanging above, he was most possibly bluffing with every threat he made. She had heard something about revival while she was in that coma, and he wouldn't have made an effort in reviving her if he was just going to kill her.

…Right?

Medic didn't bother correcting her, but instead lovingly cradled another pidgeon in his hands as he pulled up a chair next to her.

"Now where should I begin. Oh yes. Vell, my eight teammates and I are all ex-military from all around ze world. Except for ze Scout, we just sort of took him in. Anyway. When ze shit really hit the fan, a nemesis arose. He was very driven, intelligent, he had zo much to offer and accomplish. Unfortunatley, all zese ambitions were to deztroy ze world. He's responsible for all ze wars happening long ago.

"Now. My team and I, we're eazily the best around. And I don't say zaht to be arrogant, I mean it. We almost had him defeated zhat one time years ago, but there was a slip-up. A Spy had infiltrated our devenzes, and wounded all of us. Zere was no other option than to retreat. I spent months in zis very room trying to heal zem. Which is how I ended up with zis baby." He patted his Medi-Gun affectionatley.

"But with every good, zere must be some bad. Ze spy had stolen DNA samples from each of us, enabling ze scientist to create a team exactly like ours. In fact, ze only way you can tell us apart is from our clothes. We wear red, zey wear blue. We must deztroy zem at all costs, or zey will destroy ze world."

The Medic sighed quietly as he continued to stroke the feathers of his bird.

"Why do you want to save the world? There's nothing left… even if all the war stopped, there's no way we can save ourselves from being wiped out. There's nothing to save." Wynter asked.

"Ze question just reverts back to you, Wynter. Why are you still alive if there's nothing left?"

"Because I grew up with a father who told me suicide is not an option, no matter how bad life gets. And besides, I'm only eighteen. This is all I know of the world, is war and corruption. Through my eyes, it isn't really that bad. And when it is, it's just the nature of the beast."

"Ah. I'd been meaning to ask, where exactly is your father?" Medic asked. "Zhat's very irresponzible parenting to let your daughter out on the field like you were… even if you are considered an adult."

"My father died extremely recently… in fact, more or less a week ago." Wynter said quietly. "He was the only family or friends I had left, so I'm kind of on my own here. Speaking of suicide and shit…. are you going to kill me now?" Wynter asked.

"No." Medic objected. "Ze Scout thought you could be of use to us." He chuckled, "And without your father you'll clearly starve, so what choice do you really have?"

"I have plenty of choices."

"Zhat's not ze point. We need all ze help we can get."

"Oh what, so you're just going to kidnap me and throw me out in the battlefield to fight for your side?"

"Vell, nobody said you had to be out in ze field." Medic said, getting up and walking towards the door. "I vill be back. I have important matters to discuss with my team."

There was a slam shut, and Wynter was alone in the quiet room.

"Great, what have I gotten myself into now…" she thought to herself.


	2. Chapter Two: Allies and Alibis

Medic walked through the empty halls of the abandoned hospital, the walls and floors dilapidated and brown with decay. It was filthy but good for keeping intruders out, namely the BLU "team". Walking through the halls was just going to be a complete waste of time for them. Nobody on RED doubted the possibility of this particular part of the building spontaneously collapsing and putting the disadvantage on their shoulders, but there was nowhere else to go that had such ample shelter and room for their individual needs.

Leaving the base was borderline suicidal, there was no way of knowing what kind of ambush or attack could be waiting for them at any moment, at any place… it wasn't in their nature to be unprepared, especially with a full arsenal of weapons, but there was no room for mistakes. Even one slip-up had the potential of putting it all to an end.

Pushing a door open to the room they used for planning out all of their operations and holding meetings -what used to be the nursery in the hospital- , Medic found his whole team discussing the current hot topic. Their new hostage, Wynter. Where did she come from? What was she doing in the area of the hospital where there was clearly a battle being fought, was she possibly a spy for the BLU team, an innocent bystander, or on a side all her own? Scout had assumed she was neither friend or foe, but he wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed either…

"Vello." Medic said as he entered the room.

"Well?" Soldier asked, sounding like he was giving Medic a military order.

"Vell." Medic said calmly, taking his place at the table between Scout and Sniper. "I'm still not quite sure what she was doing here, but it's safe to say she's basically harmless."

"Oi mate I'm not one to rock the boat or anything but she was in our base. Nobody just waltzes into a battle unless they've got some part in it, and the little lassy was shootin' right at us."

"Pfft she was shootin' at the fricken BLU team too, don't start gettin' all melodramatic Crocodile Dundee." Scout said.

"I wouldn't be throwin' rocks now, you half-pint halfwit" Demoman interrupted as he took a swig of his Scrumpy, "Even if e' was a lit'tle melodramatic ah bet 'es not half as loud as yer mother is in bed wiff 'im." The whole crew laughed, with the exception of Medic.

"Yaa vell before we discuss ze Scout's mother's sexual preference for French men his son works with…"

"Yes, let's be gentlemen." Their resident French man, Spy, said coolly. He was reclined in an old office chair with his feet on the table. He took a puff of his cigarette and exhaled before adding a final blow, "Though if there's anyone zat can make me less of a gentleman and more like an animal, it is indeed votre belle mère." He winked briefly at Scout from across the table.

Medic put his hand to his forehead and let out a loud, exaggerated sigh. "Are ve finished?"

"Yeah, Medic's got some news to share on that girl and you guys are freakin' disrupting him, let the man talk." Scout said in a nervous, high-pitched voice.

Before anyone could chime in on the fact the only reason Scout had any interest in what Medic had to say was because it'd draw attention away from the fact that Spy was, in fact, romantically involved with Scout's mother, Medic cleared his throat and stood up with authority, his clipboard in hand to read off notes he had taken on his new patient of interest.

"As I said before we got sidetracked." Medic said, glaring at Demoman since he was the start of it, "Her name is Wynter. She needed food and thought there was some here. She was indeed on a side of her own. Additionally, I think it would be wise to keep a distance from her until further notice, as she is a little… snappy."

"You say that like we ought to be afraid of girls." Scout spat, rolling his eyes.

"Your guilty conscience is showing." Soldier muttered under his breath.

"What we do with tiny girl after further notice?" Heavy bellowed.

"Zat is what I arrived to discuss, my friends." Medic said confidently, "My ideas were to make her an addition to ze team if we could reach a mutual agreement."

"What use would she be of?" the Engineer asked matter-of-factly, "Scout was able to injure her within a minute of being on base. We would be endangerin' her, if she even wanted to be on our side."

"We've only got eight goddamned men." Soldier replied, "The odds are already stacked against us, we need all the help we can get!"

"Yes, but consider how long it will take to train her, mon américain ami. Chances are she has no previous knowledge of combat, and we do not have forever, in fact, nobody knows how limited our days are. And like Engineer said, what use has a young girl assisting us in a war against men? She will be more trouble and require more assistance on the team than we can afford." Spy politely disagreed.

"But team need all the help it can get. Tiny girl can help. Tiny girl just need tiny poosh." Heavy said, smiling.

"The girl is in the same boat as we are." Sniper said in response to Spy, a tone of defense in his voice, "I'm slightly taken aback that you would write her off as an inconvenience just because she's female. If she was the same sex as us we wouldn't even think twice about recruitin' her."

"So how are we going to go about doing this? I say we vote. All in favor of recruiting the girl say I!" Soldier commanded.

"And what if we don't agr-"

"THEN YOU'RE A MAGGOT." he shouted at Spy, who immediately recoiled and meekly raised his hand in approval.

"Weakling, you'd rather stand with the majority in false agreement than stand alone with your honest opinion." Soldier scoffed.

Everyone in the room raised their hand, except for a certain member…

"Pyro? Whaddya say about having a new member on the team, buddy?" Scout piped up, slapping the firesuit-clad teammate on the back.

He didn't say much, as usual, but gave an enthusiastic thumbs-up and a "mphmhphmppphh!"

"Vell, zhis draws our meeting to a close." Medic said. "I vill go have a chat with ze patient and be back soon. As you were, meine freundes." And with that, he exited the room, closing the door behind him on his way out.


	3. Chapter 3: Willing Prisoner

"Still here, mein patient?" Medic chuckled to himself.

"No, as a matter of fact I just got back." Wynter said sarcastically.

Medic smiled and pinched her cheek, speaking in an outlandishly obnoxious mock-baby voice as he returned the favor. "Ah, you're too much. Did you get any food while you were out? Are you hungry, armes liebling?"

Wynter scoffed, totally unamused.

"I'll take that as a yes."

Medic walked over to the fridge he stored various things in, the whole interior packed with snow to keep the contents cool. It contained mostly organs and blood for transplant, samples for experiments, temperature sensitive medications, bird food, and occasionally, snacks.

"I'll have you know right away ve don't have much, most of ze food is rationed so don't ever take any without asking." He said from across the room, taking out something that looked like cooked ham and hacking off a slice to put on a paper plate. "Especially with ze Heavy, he may look stupid and act kindly to zose he knows are friendly, but he will not think twice to shoot you should you betray us."

He brought the plate with him to the operating table. "Now, I'm going to take your restraints off since we've determined you're not a threat." Medic said, "Buuuut if you give me reason to see you as a one," he pulled out a rather unnecessarily large bonesaw and put it to her throat, leaning in to whisper to her. "I von't hesitate in making you my latest experiment. Are we understood?"

"Yes." Wynter agreed. At this point she was just happy to be free of the restraints, and she suspected that food was for her… it looked delicious.

"Good girl." Medic said, patting her on the head. It didn't take long before Wynter was free from the leather straps that bound her to the table, and she was able to sit up straight. Almost immediately upon arising, he handed her the plate.

"Do not take long. Ve need to train you as soon as possible."

Wynter nearly choked on the meat as soon as she swallowed it. "Training?"

"How do I put zis kindly? You've been drafted."

"Tell me you're kidding. Please tell me you are fucking shitting me." Wynter said, raising her voice in extreme displeasure.

Medic laughed, unfazed by her use of coarse language. "My team came to an agreement that your assistance in our situation could be helpful."

"Oh, so that just instantly gives you the right to add me to your little army, because you think I could be of use to you?"

"Now, now. It vas not entirely my idea. We made the decision as a team."

"You're kidding me, right?"

"I thought we previously discussed I was shitting you." Medic snickered. "Look, it is not all bad. Without your father you're clearly going to starve and die."

"Actually, my father taught me how to take care of myself. I don't need your help, even if that's really what you were offering me here."

Medic scoffed. "Zhat's why you got captured. If that was the best that your father could teach you, I can assure you it is a miracle you both survived long enough for him to teach you whatever awful 'battle strategies' he knew. Face it, you are weak and incapable of defending yourself."

"I don't know what pisses me off more about you, the fact that you're blatantly insulting my father and myself, or that you have the audacity to say it right to my fucking face." Wynter spat.

"You say zhat like I should feel threatened."

"Because you should feel threatened." Wynter sneered.

"Ugh, liebling. Your efforts are charming, but how about you just shut your mouth before I sew it shut." Medic laughed.

"Oh you're so fucking intimidating." Wynter said, "I would love to see you try.

Medic put the bonesaw still in his hand to her throat. "Do not try my patience."

"The main fuckin' purpose of my life is to try." Wynter whispered, "….doctor."

Medic went to press the saw to her throat and slit it open, but she flipped herself back over the table and he took a slice at thin air. Grabbing the closest thing to her -an unnecessarily large scalpel- she decided to take a stand.

"Come and get me, you sick German bastard." She taunted.

"See? You're already making mistakes." Medic said calmly, walking towards her. "Zhere is a wall behind you. All I have to do is-" He pushed her backwards into the wall and rushed in, bracing one arm to her left and holding the bonesaw to her throat with the other. "Zhis. If I was ze BLU medic, you would be dead right now."

Before Medic could take another stab at her -so to speak- they were interrupted by Soldier, who was clearly impatient to start training his newest recruit.

"You've started training without me!" He exclaimed when he saw both parties wielding knives. "Well. Operation equipment is not suitable for duty." He approached Medic and Wynter both, taking their weapons, proceeding to give both a brief lecture. "Lots of diseases your patients could get from the battlefield if you ever used this for medical use again." He turned to Wynter, "And not nearly sturdy or powerful enough to deal any real damage."

"Certain situations call for whatever weapons you can get your hands on." She replied, glaring at Medic.

"Smart girl. Tell me, are you ready for training?"

"Actually, no. I didn't sign up for this."

"It's called a draft." Soldier said, patting Wynter on the back.

"Yeah, I'm aware what it's called." Wynter said.

"Has Medic explained to you what we are fighting against?"

"Clones."

"Clones made by a nemesis to end all nemeses. He is trying to put an end to the human race, and completely destroy the world. You can leave now if you want, nobody should be forced to fight. But I'll tell you one thing, hiding out in the woods is not going to save you. Living every man for himself is what got everyone else killed. Our survival as a race depends on each other, and I can tell you now our team needs all the help it can get."

Wynter was quiet for a moment. Soldier had a point, and while it definitely wasn't guaranteed she was going to live either way, she had a better shot with this group of refugees than she did by herself. Safety in numbers.

Sighing, she nodded her head. "I'm in."

"Then let's not waste one more second, we're burning daylight!" Soldier exclaimed, leading Wynter out of Medic's lab.


	4. Chapter 4: Training To Kill

Soldier lead Wynter through a door that was near the exit of Medic's lab. It lead outside, back into the freezing cold. Looking to the horizon, she could see the sunrise slowly appearing.

"I've uh… how long was I in a coma?"she asked as they trekked through a narrow, compressed path in the middle of junk piles. There were scraps everywhere, of every kind of material. It seemed like they were all somewhat separated, as if they were being saved for something.

"Just until earlier this afternoon. Scout hit you in the head pretty hard."

"Who's Scout?"

Soldier laughed. "One of our teammates. In case Medic didn't tell you, there's nine of us. I guess you make ten, but that's not important right now. So tell me, where are you from?"

"Originally? I'm from a really small town in British Columbia, in Canada. I don't remember a lot of it personally because I was really young when my dad and I had to leave to go into hiding, but from what he says, it must have been nice."

"How old were you?"

"Two or three. I think my mom saw this shitstorm coming because she had stocked up on food and supplies. When we gave a little to a friend, his family got paranoid and turned the whole town on us. I remember having to get up really early one morning to pack everything we could into the back of an old pickup truck and hauling ass out of there because they were gonna kill us all for what we had. My mom didn't last too long after we left, between the stress and the cold it all just kind of got to her."

Soldier was quiet. "She killed herself?"

Wynter shrugged. "You know, my dad and I never found out what happened to her. One night we all went to sleep huddled in the truck as we did every night, and woke up one morning to find she wasn't there. We never really talked about it, even when I was old enough to understand."

They reached a large shed at the end of their path, one side appeared to be attached to the wall of the hospital. The door inside was facing them, and Soldier went ahead to open the door, letting her inside.

Inside, there were weapons hung everywhere, with crates full of ammo and bullets on the floor. Wynter was impressed by the multitude of weapons RED had to their name. Practically every gun, knife, or otherwise dangerous memorabilia was there, ready to use.

"So how much do you know about fighting?" Soldier asked.

"Enough, I guess?" Wynter said, "My dad taught me how to shoot with the guns we had and have good aim, but that's about it."

"Well, I want to see how good your aim is, as that's one of the most important things to know in the field." He pointed to a target hanging on the wall, and handed her a loaded Glock 17. "Do you know how to shoot this?"

"Yeah, we had one just like this." Wynter said, taking it in her hand and immediately shooting at a plywood cutout of a mercenary she didn't recognize that had been placed a few feet out the window. She missed the first time, but landed a good shot in the chest her second.

"Well, I'll be damned." Soldier said to himself, patting Wynter on the back.

Wynter shrugged, a little surprised herself. "I've only used weapons for self-defense, I haven't really… gone out and shot people to kill them."

"Technically speaking we're only defending ourselves as well. I told you about that scientist and his gang of clones. They're going to destroy the world if we don't do something about it."

"Medic told me all about him." Wynter said, "does he have a name?"

"Dira Smith. Once you put a name to someone you start thinking of them as a person, and we can't have any sympathy towards that bastard. So, we just call him by what he really is. A scientist that's out of his fucking mind, a threat that needs to be relinquished."

"That's not a mouthful." Wynter said with a smirk.

"That's why we don't speak of him."

Wynter looked over the guns laid out on the table before her. "So, where do you guys get all this stuff?"

"Everywhere." Soldier said, "You've got to understand we've been at this since we were young…some of us younger than you right now. We've stolen supplies from the enemy, we've taken care of our own weapons in good shape, and we're on good terms with an arms dealer who'll send new weapons up if it's safe."

"And I thought just about everyone here was the last on earth." Wynter laughed.

"Nah, there's a few people scattered here and there. Not enough to make quite a hundred, but enough that there's still hope. That's why we fight." Soldier said, pausing breifly. "Well, that's why some of us fight. I personally just like whipping sissies into shape and kicking 'em into the ground."

Wynter felt something snake around her throat, and she instinctively reached around her. She could feel something, someone there, but she couldn't see anything… as the constriction around her neck got tighter she panicked, and was dragged to the ground.

"Spy! Knock it off!" Soldier commanded.

At once, Wynter could see her attacker. It appeared he could make himself invisible…

She rose to her feet immediately and grabbed a gun off the table, pointing it in the direction of the tall, thin man that had dared to surprise her.

"My lady, now is not the time to draw your weapons. I am an ally, they call me Spy." He took her hand and kissed the back of it, politely curtsying slightly to her. "I apologize for the rude introduction but it is an important lesson you must learn. You should always be aware of your surroundings, for there are always spies like me to be found if you are careless enough…. and their intents are not to show you a lesson." He pulled a box of cigarettes out of his suit pocket and light one up.

"He has a point." Soldier said, "Always be on the look out for spies. They're sneaky little bastards, and twice as dangerous as they are ugly."

"excusez-moi?" Spy said, pulling out his butterfly knife and pointing it towards Soldier.

"You heard me, maggot!" He shouted, causing both Spy and Wynter to jump a little.

Spy cleared his throat. "How is she… doing."

"She's doing great!" Soldier said enthusiastically, motioning him to follow to the window and see Wynter's shot.

"Ah. How many tries did that take you, chérie?"

"Two." Wynter replied.

Spy reached into his suitcoat with a snicker and took out a revolver, checking to see if it had at least one bullet inside the barrel. He handed it to her. "Impress me."

Wynter didn't want to admit it, but it made her nervous. The tone of his voice was slightly intimidating, cold, and she could sense a bit of… disapproval.

Her hand shook a little as she held the revolver out, pulling the trigger and missing the target.

"Damnit." She grumbled to herself, handing the gun back to Spy.

"See, this is something you need to work on." Spy said calmly as he walked over to the table to reload, "On the field you're not going to be coddled by a teacher or mentor." He looked over to Soldier for a moment. "You're going to be on the spot. I put you on the spot, I made you nervous, and that is a grave mistake on your part."

"It's not a mistake for me to be nervous." Wynter objected.

Spy chuckled. "I had my hands around your neck. You struggled, and if Soldier had not intervened, you would be dead. You struggled because you were nervous, you were scared. The element of surprise is a great weapon, but it's also a weakness. Work on that. Learn to expect things that aren't present, because they just might be. And when they're there, block it out. Don't allow it to hinder your performance. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good." Spy smiled, "Welcome to the team, darling." he looked to Soldier again, "If you wouldn't mind, I suspect your training with Heavy is in about five minutes, I shall take her and show her around the main quarters and what not."

"I didn't even get time to-"

"You can pick up where you left of later, mon ami." Spy interrupted, dismissing himself as well as Wynter.


	5. Chapter 5: Wreched Roost

Spy lead Wynter back into the hospital, past Medic's room, and up the dark hall that lead by it.

"So what's the deal with the BLU team?" She asked, "If you guys are so great and ex military and things like that, with all of your weapons and fancy gadgets… why can't you wipe out the BLU team? There can't possibly be that many of them…"

"Respawn." Spy replied calmly, "I told you they were clones of us, yes? There's at least It's their advantage over us in battle. When one of them dies, they just come back to life at their base. That scientist….that monster…. he made a chip just for that purpose. In order to kill the clones for once and for all, we need to remove the chips."

"So you're basically fighting for nothing until the chips are removed?" Wynter asked.

"No. Never, never for nothing. It's better to keep fighting while we figure out a way to do what needs to be done than just give up and let him destroy the world. We fight to live, and so long as it's for our lives, it's not for nothing."

"Well yeah, I get that, but I mean… they're just going to keep coming back. Doesn't that get discouraging?"

"I've been a mercenary for quite a while now." Spy said with a shrug, taking out another cigarette, "My life is war. To be completely honest with you, it's what I'm going to do after this final battle is won. This is all I know." he took a second cigarette and handed it to Wynter.

"Thanks." She said, putting it in her mouth and allowing him to light it for her. "I guess I kind of know how you feel. It's weird for me to think about how I'm going to be fighting as opposed to hiding. My dad and I never fought, it was always about laying low and doing the best we could to survive."

"I suppose that could be problematic, yes. To be completely honest with you, I was against the idea of keeping you here."

"That doesn't surpsise me." Wynter said, inhaling the smoke deeply., "I didn't really want to stay that much to begin with myself."

"So what made you decide you wanted to stay, then?"

"This guy has to be stopped." Wynter said, "It's as simple as that. Soldier gave me a little lecture about our fates depending on eachother's and things like that. I'm totally capable of taking care of myself, but that's not going to do me any good in the event the world comes to an end."

"Agreed." Spy said. "So, always take the hall we were just in if you need to go outside for training or visit Medic. It's faster and most convenient."

They were standing in a large, open room. It must have been a reception area before the hospital was abandoned. There were five doors, but three of them were boarded shut.

"Down the hall to our far right is the briefing room. That's where we meet to discuss our next plans of attack. And the next two halls are the sleeping quarters. I'm not sure if anyone has taken the initiative to prepare a room for you, but I am fairly certain there will be one ready when you are ready to retire."

"Why are the doorways boarded up?" Wynter asked, gesturing to the closed entries.

"We simply had no use for them. We found ourselves getting lost inside this establishment when we first came here, so we made an effort in making the space smaller. We only use about one-fourth of this whole building for living, the other parts are being deconstructed for supplies such as wood, plastic, and metal. We cannot let anything go to waste!" Spy said with a laugh. "Anyway." He walked towards the briefing room, "Come. I have something to show you."

She followed him down the dark hall and into the room.


End file.
